De felice



Sept. 22, 1964 E. DE FELICE BUILDING STRUCTURE FOR EASILY ERECTED LARGE PAVILION 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 27, 1960 INVIEN'TOR. 5210 .DE FE LICC ATUJ E. DE FELICE Sept. 22, 1964 BUILDING STRUCTURE FOR EASILY ERECTED LARGE PAVILION 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 27. 1960' I INVENTQR. EZIO DE. FELJCE rend-4i A TTJJ Sept. 22, 1964 E. DE FELICE 3,149,703

BUILDING STRUCTURE FOR EASILY ERECTED LARGE PAVILION Filed July 27, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTpR. EZIODE FELlcE BY W475 PM E. DE FELICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 mvroge. 1! E FELHLE W,MVM

Sept. 22, 1964 BUILDING STRUCTURE FOR EASILY ERECTED LARGE PAVILION Filed July 27. 1960 United States Patent Office 3,14%,703 Patented Sept. 22., 1964 3,149,703 BUILDING STRUCTURE FOR EASILY ERECTED LARGE PAVILION Ezio de Felice, Palazzo Reale, Naples, Italy Filed July 27, 1960, Ser. No. 45,612 Claims priority, application Italy Feb. 16, 1960 1 Claim. (Cl. 189-4) The object of the present invention is to provide a building structure with which large sized pavilions can be quickly erected, and which needs scaffolding, and which makes use of elements partially or totally made in a location remote from the building site.

The purpose of this invention is to provide a building structure which can be assembled and mounted in a quick and economical way, for use as a temporary or permanent structure used for fairs, exhibitions, aircraft hangers, public shows and the like.

According to this invention, a structure is provided consisting in pre-arranging, on the ground, pin support in which there is prearranged, on the ground, pin support pieces. Assembled at the site on the ground, are the load carrying elements of the structure. Said elements are connected one at the time to said pin supports, and are sequentially erected by rotating them about said pins and connecting each element along its contour to the next following element which has been prepositioned on the ground until the frame structure has been completed.

This invention will be now described with reference to the attached drawings showing by way of non-lmitative example, certain preferred embodiments of this invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of a structure according to this invention on four supports;

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the initial step of the erecting of the structure of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3 to 7 are side elevational views showing in sequential order the various building steps of the structure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of a structure according to the invention resting on two supports;

FIGS. 9 to 16 show diagrammatically the operative steps of erecting the structure of FIG. 8;

FIGS. 17, 18 and 19 show a further form of the structure of the present invention consisting of a plurality of frames similar to the embodiment of FIG. 8, said form being shown in front elevation, in top plan view and in side elevation, respectively;

FIGS. 20 and 21 are side elevational views of various types of hinge supports, and

FIG. 22 is a perspective view of a structure built according to this invention.

Considering now FIG. 1, the reference 1 denotes a set of a plurality of hinged arches formed for instance by a metal latticework which is either pre-fabricated or assembled on the ground at the building site. The arches 1 are subdivided into two groups, each group being hinged at its base on pivot pins 2 carried by four supports 3. The arches 1 are connected to one another by rigid rods or bars 4.

For erecting the structure the pivot pin supports 3 are pre-disposed on the ground, said supports being transversely connected by the chains (FIG. 2) and longitudinally connected by the rigid rods 6'; then around the base contour and externally thereof, four derricks 6 are positioned which are operated by the capstans 7.

The steps by which the structure is erected occur according to the sequence shown in FIGS. 3 to 7. First one arch is mounted on each pair of pivot pin supports 3 (FIG. 3) and then said arch is rotated upwardly by the derricks 6 through a distance sufficient to move the arches 1 to the position 1 where it will be possible to mount the connecting bars 4 after the subsequent arch 1 has been connected to the pivot pins (FIG. 4). Then the described operations are repeated until the two groups of arches 1 which are symmetrically built, reach the configuration shown in FIG. 7.

Finally the connection of the two sets of arches is carried out by the connecting elements 8.

It is to be noted that throughout the duration of the work, both the necessary equipment and the workers op erate outside of the work, so that the space within the structure is entirely free, said space being, if necessary or desirable by the structure, or said interior space may be used for independent furnishing or completing works.

FIG. 8 shows a structure having a substantially hemispherical shape, resting on a single pair of supports 3. The construction (FIGS. 9-16) is carried out in a way similar to that described with respect to FIGS. 37, with the only difference being that in this case the arches 1 are always mounted on the pivot pin supports from the same side, until the construction has been completed.

Besides the arches, other structures which can be used are frames hinged at their bases (FIG. 17) and the number of the pairs of pin supports can be changed, according to the size of the construction. Thus, for instance in FIGS. 18 and 19 three pairs of supports 3 have been shown. The several arches or load bearing elements may be connected by the rigid rods 4, or by means of elastic connection elements, which are connected to the two contiguous arches, so that the mounting and raising operations can be carried out in the already described way.

In FIG. 20 a support has been shown consisting of a base plate 10 or an equivalent element, provided with a stand 11 wherein is mounted the pin 2 with the sector 22 rigidly mounted thereon and provided with radial projecting members 12, said structure providing a mounting for the static hinge 13 of the arches 1.

Another type of support is shown in FIG. 21 wherein a semicylindrical drum 14 is rigidly mounted on the pin 2 which is journaled in the bearing 15 carried by the base plate 16 provided with a slot 17 under which a recess 18 is dug in the ground, said recess receiving the semicylindrical drum during the initial assembling steps.

A further type of support'is shown in FIG. 22 which illustrates a structure obtained according to the invention, and comprising two sets of mutually connected arches and having a connecting building structure con sisting of another set of arches having a different size. In this case the supports each have two sectors 19 rotatably mounted on the plates 20. The arched structure is completed by the peripheral rafters 21. In the case of an elastic connection, i.e. by ropes or cables connecting the load carrying elements, the elements 21 will be formed by extending said cables or ropes to the points at which they are anchored to the ground. If the support plates are firmly anchored to the ground, the chains connecting the supports may be dispensed with.

The structure-may be covered by any material known, and no specific embodiment of this cover is described since it is not necessary for an understanding of the scope of this invention.

The present invention has been illustrated and described in certain preferred forms it being understood that structural changes might be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the claim.

I claim:

A building structure for large pavilions which is easily assemblable and disassemblable, comprising in combination a plurality of pin support pairs adapted to be disposed on the ground, said pin supports consisting of a base plate having a central slot, a bearing carried by said base plate, a pin pivotly mounted in said bearing, a semidrum rigidly mounted on said pin and disposed in said slot, and a plurality of lugs projecting from said semidrum for securing the ends of said arcuate units, tension connecting members connecting both pin supports of each pair, a plurality of arcuate units pivotly connected at their ends between said pin supports of each pair, elastic connection means connecting said arcuate units to one another and extending transversely of said units, said elastic connection means being disposed at intervals along and fixed to the contours of said arcuate units, and securing means provided at said intervals on the contours of said arcuate units and securing said elastic connecting means to said arcuate units.

References *Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,728,115 Cornelius Dec. 27, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 222,069 Germany May 14, 1910 752,911 Great Britain July 18, 1956 765,375 GreatBritain Jan. 9, 1957 766,314 Great Britain Ian. 23, 1957 

